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A review by kristenbooks
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
2.0
7.28.20 update: rating changed to 2.5/5. This book was alright/ok/meh.
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7/28/17: I enjoyed this book. It was really easy to binge read, and that's exactly what I did. It kept me constantly on my toes and guessing about what was going to happen next. BUT, as I mentioned several times throughout reading, I thought that this book leaned into cliches and stereotypes rather than playing with them. I went into more detail below in my post-reading thoughts. I thought the ending wasn't super satisfying as well. Overall, like I said, I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book. But I thought that its faults made it so that it couldn't quite get 4/5 despite my enjoyment. More detail is below in my post-reading thoughts!
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So, OF COURSE, all of my killer predictions were wrong because I got way too cocky.
Anyway, it'll take me a little while before I choose a rating because I'm super torn here. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing and trying to figure out what was going on and I changed my theory so many mind-boggling times. BUT it's also sooooooo cliche. I'm starting to realize that a book's cliche factor doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the book, but it IS something that I'm acutely aware of, like to complain about, and know others are easily bothered by. So if that's something that's a big turn off for you in books, definitely avoid this one. It's sprinkled in cheesy scenes, stereotypical characters, predictable secrets, and over-done plot twists. For me, it wasn't totally overbearing with these cliche things, but they were completely transparently present, if that makes any sense at all. And, I have to say that while a lot of the things were pretty predictable, the eventual killer was not. Like I said in an update, it was one of the theories stored at the back of my mind that I never believed enough to actually name them as the killer in any of my predictions, but I could say that about almost all of the characters, except one ().
TL;DR: really enjoyed this despite the cliches. It'll probs get either 3 or 4 stars but I haven't decided.
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Killer prediction updates while reading:
7/18/2017: As I said in an update yesterday @ pg 20 (haven't read since then), I have a way-too-early prediction for who the killer is. I'm putting it here in spoiler text just so that I can potentially pull an "I CALLED IT" if I'm right & have this backing me up ;D. I'm probably a bit over-confident here (and I kinda hope I'm wrong bc that'll make it less predictable-- I won't be looking for validation of my theory) but oh well. Here's my prediction-- please don't spoil me on whether I'm right or wrong!
7/22/2017: So I just finished Part 1 and I'm starting to suspect another person. Not sure if I suspect them more or less than the person I mentioned a few days ago, but I'm getting suspicious. Honestly, I was a bit suspicious the second I saw the different stereotypes, but I figured it was too obviously cliche. Now that I've read quite a bit of it and realize how much it's leaning into the cliches, my new killer prediction is:
7/23/2017: Hi, me again with another dumb killer prediction update @ pg 239. The further I get into this book, the more I get suspicious about another character. At this point, I think they're the most likely person to have done it. I've been suspecting them since mid-part 2 and my suspicions just keep piling up and piling up. This'll probably be my last prediction, so we'll see if I'm right. Given that this is my THIRD prediction, I'll only feel successful if I'm correct on this one. And TBH, I really think I am.
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7/28/17: I enjoyed this book. It was really easy to binge read, and that's exactly what I did. It kept me constantly on my toes and guessing about what was going to happen next. BUT, as I mentioned several times throughout reading, I thought that this book leaned into cliches and stereotypes rather than playing with them. I went into more detail below in my post-reading thoughts. I thought the ending wasn't super satisfying as well. Overall, like I said, I did thoroughly enjoy reading this book. But I thought that its faults made it so that it couldn't quite get 4/5 despite my enjoyment. More detail is below in my post-reading thoughts!
----------------------------
So, OF COURSE, all of my killer predictions were wrong because I got way too cocky.
Anyway, it'll take me a little while before I choose a rating because I'm super torn here. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing and trying to figure out what was going on and I changed my theory so many mind-boggling times. BUT it's also sooooooo cliche. I'm starting to realize that a book's cliche factor doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the book, but it IS something that I'm acutely aware of, like to complain about, and know others are easily bothered by. So if that's something that's a big turn off for you in books, definitely avoid this one. It's sprinkled in cheesy scenes, stereotypical characters, predictable secrets, and over-done plot twists. For me, it wasn't totally overbearing with these cliche things, but they were completely transparently present, if that makes any sense at all. And, I have to say that while a lot of the things were pretty predictable, the eventual killer was not. Like I said in an update, it was one of the theories stored at the back of my mind that I never believed enough to actually name them as the killer in any of my predictions, but I could say that about almost all of the characters, except one (
Spoiler
Nate. I was never suspicious of him in the slightest.TL;DR: really enjoyed this despite the cliches. It'll probs get either 3 or 4 stars but I haven't decided.
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Killer prediction updates while reading:
7/18/2017: As I said in an update yesterday @ pg 20 (haven't read since then), I have a way-too-early prediction for who the killer is. I'm putting it here in spoiler text just so that I can potentially pull an "I CALLED IT" if I'm right & have this backing me up ;D. I'm probably a bit over-confident here (and I kinda hope I'm wrong bc that'll make it less predictable-- I won't be looking for validation of my theory) but oh well. Here's my prediction-- please don't spoil me on whether I'm right or wrong!
Spoiler
My prediction is that Addy is whodunit. She was a bit too teary-eyed for my liking.7/22/2017: So I just finished Part 1 and I'm starting to suspect another person. Not sure if I suspect them more or less than the person I mentioned a few days ago, but I'm getting suspicious. Honestly, I was a bit suspicious the second I saw the different stereotypes, but I figured it was too obviously cliche. Now that I've read quite a bit of it and realize how much it's leaning into the cliches, my new killer prediction is:
Spoiler
Bronwyn. Because you'd NEVER suspect the perfect student to be the one who did it... wink wink, nudge nudge. I'm honestly going to be really annoyed if Bronwyn is the killer because at this point the "perfect student" being the killer is ten times more obvious and over-done than the "obvious bad boy" being the killer is.7/23/2017: Hi, me again with another dumb killer prediction update @ pg 239. The further I get into this book, the more I get suspicious about another character. At this point, I think they're the most likely person to have done it. I've been suspecting them since mid-part 2 and my suspicions just keep piling up and piling up. This'll probably be my last prediction, so we'll see if I'm right. Given that this is my THIRD prediction, I'll only feel successful if I'm correct on this one. And TBH, I really think I am.